The Wrong Universe
by TalepieceUK
Summary: Romana gets back from E-Space but she arrives in the wrong universe. femslash
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: The Wrong Universe  
AUTHOR: Talepiece  
RATING: PG  
PAIRING: (not intentionally)  
FICATHON: Written for Tenzo's DW Fic Bingo on LiveJournal

NOTES: I had a Multi-Era bingo card and went with Rose-Vervoids-quantified-Autons-Romana.

* * *

Some days were bad. Some days were weird. And some days were both. Badly weird or weirdly bad? Rose wasn't sure but today was definitely one or the other. She considered it some more as she carefully stepped through the burning foliage and melting plastic that was scattered all around her. She threw the rapidly cooling flamethrower over her shoulder, taking delicate steps until she reached clear space.

Things at Torchwood were always a bit weird, it didn't really matter which universe you called home. So a short, blonde woman claiming to be a Time Lord wasn't that much of a stretch. Unfortunately, Gregory had just left to scale some mountain or other. He was doing a lot of that sort of thing at the moment; challenging his "oh-so-human" body. Rose was getting oh-so-tired of it. Anyway, he wasn't there but this short, blonde woman seemed to know an awful lot about him. Well, not Gregory but the Doctor...from the other universe.

'You're saying I finally make it back from E-Space and I stumble in to the wrong universe?'

'E-Space?' Rose studied the woman, 'You got back on your own?'

'Well, I had a bit of help at the other end. Poor old K9,' she said.

'You have a K9 too? How many of those things are there?'

'You know about K9?'

'I've met one. He belongs to Sarah Jane Smith. Don't really see the point but the Doctor -'

'The Doctor? You know the Doctor?'

'Two of them and,' Rose hesitated, 'a half.'

'A half a Doctor?'

Now the woman was looking at Rose the way Rose that had been looking at her. Rose didn't like it much. This whole thing was getting out of hand. But, then, what did she expect? This woman had just appeared, tumbling out of the Rift with a pout at having her clothes singed. Who the hell was she?'

'Listen, just who are you?'

'Romanadvoratrelundar.'

Rose fought down her grin. The woman didn't bother to suppress her scowl.

'Oh...great,' Rose squeaked.

'But people usually call me Romana.'

'Oh, great,' Rose repeated in a more upbeat tone, 'Well, Romana, I'm Rose Tyler. Welcome to Torchwood.'

'What is this place?'

'Oh, you know, above the law-beyond the military. Or is it the other way around? Anyway,' Rose shook it off, 'this is Earth but probably not the Earth you're looking for, based on these readings.'

Rose handed over a sheaf of papers and a handheld device that Romana eyed suspiciously. She muttered something un-Time-Ladylike and flicked through the papers.

While she read, Rose asked, 'So you're a former companion too?'

'No, a Time Lord.'

'A...Time...oh.'

But Romana wasn't taking any notice of Rose's disbelieving stare. She was too intent on the papers in front of her. She glanced up finally and said, 'Any chance I could get back to -'

She didn't have time to finish. The klaxons were blaring, lights flashing, people rushing around. All completely unnecessary, as Rose had pointed out many times, but Torchwood personnel seemed to like it. Rose slowly lifted herself from the seat, smiling down at Romana who was looking around them in surprise. Rose shrugged, turning to go and throwing, 'Come on,' over her shoulder.

Rose had picked her way to the edge of the destruction now. She propped herself up against a Land Rover and looked back the way she'd come. God, what a mess. It stank too. This was going to take some explaining - like everything else in her professional life. And quite a lot of her personal life too. There was a noise off to the right and she glanced round to see Romana making her own, careful way to Rose's side. They stood in silence for a while, eyes wondering over what had been a pleasant little park less than three hours ago.

'You know, you never did tell me about this half a Doctor?'

'Gregory.'

Romana turned to stare at her, 'Gregory?'

'My half Doctor. Mid-regeneration-half-human-meta-crisis-Time-Lord-type-person. Thingy,' Rose added as if it would make it clearer.

'How many hearts?' Romana said after very a long pause.

'Only the one. He's off testing it out now; climbing mountains.'

'Mountains. I see.'

'Wish I did,' Rose grumped.

She barely saw the carnage around her but she just couldn't ignore that stench. She'd got a whiff of that smell first when this whole thing had kicked off. The klaxons were still deafening everyone when she and Romana jogged in to the Control Room. No Jack Harkness here but a good team and better funded thanks to her father. Rose checked the displays and saw the trajectory of whatever it was that was on a direct course for Earth. England, of course; so much more welcoming to invading aliens than the US. There had been the usual discussions, arguments, orders, countermands but eventually Rose was in the Land Rover. Romana too. Funny how Time Lords always managed to get themselves invited.

Their target location was an isolated farm but they were too late. Rose bent down to study the shattered rock. She reached out to pick up one piece and had to juggle the still-burning fragment.

'That would be warm,' Romana said from behind her.

'How did you guess?'

Romana squatted down beside her and studied the rocks. Some still glowed faintly, some hissed and whistled as they cooled. She reached out to jab at a nearby piece with her fingernail. It rocked and fell, exposing the inside. A smooth, hollow interior. Rose leaned forward, resting on her knees as she considered it.

'That's not natural.'

'Far from it,' Romana said.

'Do you know what it is?'

Romana considered for a moment before she stood up and surveyed the field. She swept back the hair that had fallen around her face. Rose waited, recognising an expression that the Doctor was prone to. Romana knew. At least, she had a fair idea. And it wasn't good. As she waited, Rose ducked down again, her face coming close to the rock. She could feel the heat on her skin. There was something else. She sniffed, her nose almost touching the fragment.

'And what is that?'

Romana looked down now, her brow wrinkling as she saw Rose with her face inside the rock.

'What are you doing?'

'It stinks,' Rose said with feeling.

'Stinks?'

'Yeah. It smells bad,' Rose explained.

'I know what stinks means,' Romana rolled her eyes. She dropped down beside Rose again and leaned over the upturned rock. She pulled her head back quickly, 'It stinks.'

'I know, I just said that.'

'It shouldn't.'

'Shouldn't stink?'

'Shouldn't smell at all; Autons don't have a scent.'

'Autons,' Rose was standing up before Romana registered her movement, 'You're sure?'

'You know them?'

'My first time with aliens. And with the Doctor. And, no,' Rose said, her voice more thoughtful, 'the only thing they smell of is plastic. What the hell stinks like that?'

'Vervoids,' Romana said simply, 'but why would Vervoids be using Nestene transportation? Or,' Romana stood too, her expression serious, 'why would the Nestene be transporting Vervoids?'

Rose leaned back on the Land Rover, pulling herself back from the memories and tilting her head to study Romana again. She was definitely a Time Lord, there really was no doubt in Rose's mind. And a companion too, Rose was sure. You just got a sense for these things. Rose sighed. The baby Tardis was growing. Torchwood One had it in a lab, bubbling away in a vat that probably stank even more than this place. Rose had dropped in to look at it the last time she was in Scotland but hadn't been allowed beyond the shatter-proof glass that separated observation room from lab. Gregory had refused to see it at all. He didn't seem interested. Seemed almost... Rose shrugged. Maybe Romana would be more interested? Maybe she could find some way to get back to the real universe. Other universe, Rose corrected herself sternly - this universe was real too.

'Are you all right?' Rose jumped at the quietly spoken words and Romana continued in the same tone, 'It's just that you've got a death grip on the bonnet of this vehicle. You may actually be denting the thing, you're certainly ruining the paintwork. Anything you'd like to talk about?'

'We have a Tardis,' Rose blurted out. Romana raised a brow, just a hint of excitement showing through the veneer of calm disinterest. Rose shrugged again, 'The Doctor - the real one - gave us a piece of coral before he left. I'm still not sure what he expected us to do with it. A souvenir maybe. Torchwood One has it in the lab. It's...growing. Gestating? Anyway, it's there. How long does it take to grow a Tardis?'

Romana looked out at the park again but her eyes saw nothing. She shrugged, coming back to herself with a quirk of her lips, 'I have no idea.'

'You must have some idea,' Rose said and it sounded just a little bit desperate, 'How long did it used to take?'

'Used to?'

And Rose suddenly realised that Romana didn't know about the fate of the Time Lords. She had no idea about the loss of her entire planet, all of her people. Damn the Doctor. Well, Rose wasn't going to get in to this now; it was already too bloody complicated. Rose threw her hands up, the weapon over her shoulder clattering against the Land Rover's bonnet.

'Forget it, forget all of it. Let's just get back and make sure the rest of the clean up operation has gone OK. Mass spraying of weedkiller - the PM's going to love that. At least Dad owns the company that makes the stuff; this'll be good for the stock price.'

Weedkiller wasn't usually the first defensive option Rose considered. Still, sometimes you had to improvise. She and Romana had left a small Torchwood team gathering up the meteorite fragments in to biohaz containers. Rose and Romana had taken another, more heavily armed UNIT team with them. Off to hunt for Vervoids.

'So what exactly are Vervoids?'

'Essentially?' Romana waited for Rose's nod to continue, 'They're giant, walking plant-people.'

Rose blinked at her, glad that she wasn't driving this time; that description might have run them off the road.

'Giant, walking -'

'Plant-people, yes.'

'Right,' Rose dragged out the word, 'How do we stop them?'

'Weedkiller?' Romana flashed Rose a grin but it didn't seem to help the situation. 'Or, perhaps, high-intensity lights to over-stimulate their growth? They have relatively short lifespans. Oh,' Romana said, a look of comprehension crossing her face, 'oh, that's quite clever really.'

'Clever?'

'The Nestene have long wanted this planet? But they've always failed - largely thanks to the Doctor, I suspect. So they need a secret weapon. What better than murderous plants that can take root, so to speak, and kill off the indigenous population.'

'You mean us,' Rose said.

'Actually, I meant you.'

'You didn't mention murderous when you told me about these Vervoids,' Rose pointed out.

'Sorry.' She didn't sound sorry at all. 'But a flash of blinding light from above would wipe out the Vervoids when their job was done.'

'I suppose that is clever,' Rose said, 'So we need a really bright light?'

'Or a nuclear explosion.'

This wasn't getting any better. Just like the Doctor too; start with the little stuff and work your way up to a nuclear holocaust. Rose found herself saying, 'Of what magnitude?' and realised how far she'd come from that innocent shop girl.

'Difficult to quantify. There are quite a lot of variables.'

'I don't really care about quantified right now; I'm more worried about the giant and murderous walking plant-men.'

Romana stared at her, 'Yes, well, I rather like quantified. I've always liked quantified. Particularly when it relates to thermonuclear detonations.'

Perhaps she'd strayed a little bit too far from that innocent shop girl if nuclear weaponry was beginning to seem like an acceptable solution. Rose scrubbed at her face with her hands. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and peeked out through her fingers. Romana smiled at her and Rose found herself smiling back. OK, maybe this woman was a bit bossy and a bit pouty at times too - just like the Doctor - but she did seem to care about the situation. As she should, Rose reminded herself, since - whatever Romana had said about the indigenous population - Rose didn't think these Vervoids would be too picky about who they killed off.

'I'll talk to HQ,' Rose said, already reaching for her phone, 'and see what they can do.'

The rest of the afternoon had been spent chasing sightings and weird stories in the area. It wasn't difficult to spot the Vervoids' path when they came across it; lots of dead bodies, all of them carefully set aside for later. Rose didn't know what would happen later but she couldn't shake off the memory of her Grandfather's allotment and the little compost heap behind the shed. Shepherding Vervoids turned out to be much like herding cats but somehow they had closed in on the huge, multi-coloured plants and forced them in to the park of a small town. Torchwood had already evacuated the place but HQ had decided against the nuclear option.

Instead, they were waiting for a container of flamethrowers to be parachuted in. It landed nearby with an earth-shaking thunk. There was the long, drawn out sound of falling masonry and Rose winced. She waved the recovery team away and waited for them to return, accepting one of the large weapons with a grim expression. One was offered to Romana and, to Rose's surprise, she accepted it. Rose didn't have time to comment, her men were ready and she raised her arm to send them in.

And the sky opened up again. Huge chunks of rock flared in the sky above, tumbling from the clouds and hurtling towards them. Romana shouted for the men to get back, dragging Rose by the collar until they were well clear. Four meteorites, all crashing to the earth within a hundred yards of each other. Rose yelled at her men to stay back. She could barely be heard over the terrified gibbering of the Vervoids as they cowed in whatever shelter they could find.

The meteorites broke on impact, not shattering at all but opening out. The fragments set the grass around them alight, the rock fizzing and smoking in the cool air. Something stirred within. It unfolded itself, not pouring out but not climbing out either, coalescing in to a shape that Rose recognised all to well. Even part-formed Autons were a threat. What would become their hands were already raising, the guns within complete and aiming at her men. Here to protect their frontline troops, she realised.

'Plastic melts, right? Especially when it's not set,' Rose said to no-one. She stood up, charging forward, screaming at her men, 'Now!'

It was chaos. Burning hot chaos. Seemingly endless little infernos. The air was choking, thick with the stench that quickly filled the park. There was the shrieking of the Vervoids; the shouts of her men; the bubbling of plastic flesh that had yet to fully form. But it was over more quickly than Rose had expected. The smoking ground was littered with rock fragments, burning foliage and shapeless chunks of plastic. Three men were down, one obviously dead. The other two were being attended by field medics. Rose carefully stepped through the detritus of their battle.

She fidgeted against the Land Rover again, her hands still threatening the paintwork. They hadn't moved. She couldn't not tell Romana; the woman deserved to know the truth. She just didn't know how to do it.

'I'm sorry,' Rose said eventually, 'I'm so sorry.'

'Sorry about what?' Romana said, picking up on Rose's anxiety.

'The Time Lords, they're all gone. There was a war, between the Time Lords and the Daleks. It all kicked off and the Doctor was the only survivor. At least, he thought he was.' Romana closed her eyes, her head tilting until her chin was on her chest. Rose watched her carefully. 'I'm so sorry,' she said again.

'Nothing left?'

'Not that I know of. At least, that was true in the other universe; no idea about this one. A Tardis might come in handy to find out.'

'Do you think your Torchwood would just hand it over to me?'

'Probably not, ' Rose allowed, 'but there's always a way, yeah?'

'So the Doctor told me...more than once.'

'Me too.'

'What about this half-Doctor of yours?' Rose shrugged but said nothing. Romana looked up again, her hand returning to Rose's shoulder. 'Come on,' she managed a weak smile, 'this place really does reek. Let's find Gregory and see where we can go from there.'


	2. Chapter 2

TITLE: A Bit Distracted  
AUTHOR: Talepiece  
RATING: 15 cert.  
PAIRING: Rose/Romana II  
DISCLAIMER: Characters not mine.  
CONTINUITY: Follows on from The Wrong Universe and links in with The Lost Children.

* * *

Gallifrey was time locked in this universe too. There really was no doubt, though Romana was spending a great deal of time and energy in finding a way around it. Rose wasn't sure to what end but it didn't really matter; Romana needed to try so she would let her. In the meantime, Rose simply watched her. She wanted to think that she was keeping an eye on Romana so that she could pull the woman back when she reached the edge of that obsessive madness that Time Lords seemed prone to. But she wasn't. She was watching Romana's face, the bright eyes, the lips that would flash in to a smile. She was wondering what those lips would feel like under her own, what that mouth would taste like. How it would feel to run her fingers through the long, blonde hair...to pull them down over Romana's chest, lingering at the small breasts...to move them around to Romana's back and pull her close...to drag her fingers over Romana's hips and dip lower...to -

'Rose? Rose? Rose, are you feeling all right? You've gone terribly red.'

Rose blinked out of her fantasy and realised she hadn't been watching the real Romana at all. The woman was standing right in front of her, a worried expression on her face. Her hands were held out, reaching for Rose but not quite touching. Rose wished they were touching her. She swallowed hard against the thought and shook her head violently.

'Sorry,' she said in a husky tone. She cleared her throat and tried again, 'Sorry. I was just...anyway, I was miles away. Are you OK?'

Now those lips really did flash in to a bright smile. Rose couldn't help but answer it with one of her own. God but she wanted to lean forward and -

'Rose? You've gone again, girl. Honestly, are you coming down with something?

I wish, Rose thought. She said, 'Just feeling a bit, er, distracted. Bit weird,' she added quickly before Romana could ask exactly what was distracting her. 'So,' Rose said on a sigh, 'what's going on then?'

'I think I've found it.' Rose raised a brow in question and Romana went on, 'A way to see Gallifrey. It's not going to be like going home, obviously, but I would like to see the place again. Just once. Just to make sure there's,' she trailed off with a vague shake of her head.

'OK then.'

And that was it. Rose didn't need to hear any more, certainly didn't want to hear the dangers involved - there were bound to be dangers involved - or the techy stuff about how they were going to do it. She would have been happy for Romana to just get on with it. Of course that wasn't going to happen; Romana was a Time Lord and they did like to give you all the details of their brilliant plans. The gist of it, as far as Rose could tell, was to jump forward in time to the very end of the universe. At that point the time lock would be disintegrating at such a rate that they could just nip in and have a look around. Rose was fairly sure it wouldn't be that simple but she liked the idea that it might be. It didn't really matter anyway; she'd go anywhere with this woman. She really had fallen that hard for her. For a Time Lord - another bloody Time Lord!

It had all started when Gregory refused to help them. He'd been civil to Romana but not really friendly. It was like he didn't want to be reminded of what he was. Or what he wasn't. The more Rose saw the two of them together, the more she was remained of what he was. Just a man, a man with a strange genesis but a fairly normal sort of bloke all the same. And she was remained of what he wasn't. He wasn't the Doctor. He wasn't her Doctor. Neither was Romana, admittedly, but she was all the things that Rose had loved about him, all the things Rose wanted Gregory to be. Perhaps if Gregory had needed her, really needed her, the way that the Doctor and Donna had obviously assumed he would. Perhaps then it might have worked. At least she wouldn't have found herself feeling like a spare wheel in her own life. Romana didn't make her feel like that at all.

So when Romana had suggested they "borrow" the Tardis, Rose had agreed immediately. And Gregory had refused. Refused point-blank. No room for discussion, no interest at all. There had been a blazing row, words had been said. Unpleasant words. Romana had quietly withdrawn from the room and left them to it. Rose found her sitting in the little garden, head back, eyes studying the stars above. There was a long silence.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause trouble for you two.'

Rose sat down beside her, 'It's not you. It's us. He's not,' she trailed off.

'Not the Doctor,' Romana finished for her.

Rose didn't correct the mistake, didn't say that it wasn't the Doctor who played on her mind at night. Instead, she said, 'I have an idea. About the Tardis.'

Romana had turned to her, brow lifting in question, smile already shaping her lips, and Rose had divulged her plan. It wasn't the most fleshed out plan ever but they filled in the blanks as they travelled north. It had taken some quick talking and at least two punches to get to the Tardis but after that it had been remarkably easy. Rose had a feeling that the Tardis just didn't like being locked up. Didn't like being caged in the Torchwood labs, studied, poked and prodded. There was almost a sigh of relief as they walked in to the newborn console room. It wasn't like the Doctor's Tardis but Rose was glad of that and she thought Romana was too. The outside looked like the coral that the whole thing was grown from. There wasn't a door, just a gap that repelled all attempts to pass through until Rose and Romana had barrelled towards it. Rose was casting worried glances at Romana as they ran through the lab at full tilt. Romana just kept her eyes forward, wild grin on her face, hair rising up behind her like some Greek goddess. Then they were at the entrance...then they were inside. Rose had looked back to see armed Torchwood personnel bouncing off the invisible barrier that the Tardis had activated once more.

The Tardis wasn't fully formed though. There was the console room with an almost finished console at it's heart and the still-forming struts growing over their heads. Beyond that there were only two rooms. One was a rudimentary bathroom that looked like it had been grown in a hurry, the other was a tiny living space. It was a good job they were both small people, Rose had thought as they poked their heads round the door and looked inside. Back in the console room, angry hands were still pounding at the invisible barrier from outside. Romana ignored it all and studied the console. Her hands played over the coral, tracing the living patterns, lingering on the controls that were sprouting from the surface all the time. That was when Rose's thoughts had turned a bit more-than-just-friendly.

She had expected to be on their way immediately but things hadn't quite gone to plan. The Tardis was welcoming but it wasn't ready to fly. Romana had talked to it, coaxed it, eased it's birth in to the world. Rose had stood back and watched, increasingly jealous of the attentions that Romana was lavishing on the thing. She kept looking at the entrance, watching the efforts of Torchwood and UNIT to get inside. None of it worked but Rose started to worry that they might hurt the Tardis.

'Don't worry,' Romana had said, her fingers tickling at a newly formed control, 'she's doing just fine. We'll be able to go soon, I think.'

'Where?' Rose asked and Romana just shrugged.

Then Gregory was there, outside the barrier. His face was pressed in to it, hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes as if it would help him to see inside. He banged on the barrier with the palm of his hand for a while, then let his head fall against it. He said something but Rose couldn't hear the words. She was glad of that. Even more glad when her parents had shown up. Though, from what little she could lip read and the smile on his face, she was fairly sure that her father was wishing her well. He was her father, despite the obvious, and she would miss him. Her mum too, most of the time. But, god, she wanted to get out of here. Just her and Romana in this brand new Tardis. Travelling the universe.

'Well,' Romana had said from behind her, 'I think we're ready to go. Care to do the honours?'

She lead Rose to the console, indicated the controls and gave a decisive nod. Rose glanced back to the barrier. Her mum and Gregory were having an argument. Her father was standing behind them, shouting at a very angry UNIT General. Rose turned back to the console, lifted her head to smile at Romana, then dropped her eyes again. She took a gentle hold of the control, patted the console with her other hand, 'Here we go gal,' and pulled.

It was a bit bumpy but not that much more than the Doctor's driving. The new Tardis needed time to settle down, Romana said, needed time to get her time legs. So they had allowed the Tardis her head and travelled wherever she took them. A lovely lime green sunset over an emerald planet; a raging volcano on a geologically unstable world; the birth of a star; the death of the same. It felt like going home, travelling aimlessly with a Time Lord in a Tardis. Slowly the Tardis had grown in to herself. They'd even gained a few more rooms. A couple of them looked like they might be bedrooms. That would make the nights easier for Rose; being so close to Romana was making it hard to sleep.

'Rose? Rose, what is wrong with you?'

Actually, being close to Romana at any time was getting to be a problem. 'Sorry,' she shook herself again, 'just -'

'Feeling weird, yes. You know, you're looking a bit odd too. Anything you want to tell me?'

Rose's eyes flashed and she stumbled over her words, 'No, no! No, honestly, nothing at all. Really, I mean -'

Romana halted the flow with a raised hand. When Rose had quieted down, the hand came to rest on Rose's forehead.

'You are a very warm,' Romana said.

You have no idea, Rose thought. She said, 'I'm fine. Now, come on, tell me about getting to Gallifrey. Are you sure she's ready for it?

Romana turned back to the console and patted it lovingly. Rose swallowed down hard on her jealousy. Romana looked back and smiled, 'I think she'll be just fine. Shall we?'

Rose nodded. She stayed back, watching Romana work her way around the console. Really watching her this time, forcing her eyes to stay on the woman as she studied the display screen which had grown one night while they were asleep. She kept her eyes on Romana's face, refusing to look down again at the way her fingers caressed the controls. The Tardis seemed to purr. Rose envied her even more. Jealous of a Tardis - she really had lost it.

The Tardis filled with the yellow glow of energy as she prepared to jump in time and space. There was no real substructure in this Tardis so the light poured out and wrapped around them. Rose had a vivid flashback to her time as one with the Doctor's Tardis. She felt the power rushing through her body, felt the connection with the vastness of time and space. Felt the terrible loss when it was pulled out of her by the Doctor's lips.

'Now you've gone pale.' Rose started, yanked from her memories by Romana's hand on her shoulder. The hand lifted and wiped away a tear as it escaped Rose's eye and tumbled down her cheek. 'You're worrying me,' Romana said.

'I don't mean to. Honest.'

'I know. Just,' Romana hesitated, 'when you're ready, do tell me what's troubling you so much. Please?'

Rose nodded, her own hand coming up to swat away the remaining tears. She stared in to Romana's eyes, felt her body begin to lean forward, heard the scream in her head: "Kiss her!" And ignored it. She sucked in a deep breath, shook her head, scrubbed at her cheeks. Romana waited a moment more, then gave up. She backed away from Rose, turning to the console to check the readings.

'How much longer?'

'A while; it's quite a long way to go, you know?' Romana flashed a smile in her direction.

Rose grinned back, 'Time for me to get cleaned up then? I want to look my best when we get to Gallifrey.'

Only just time, though. They landed with a thud, the floor of the Tardis bouncing Rose around just as she was pulling on her jacket. She ran out in to the console room and found Romana standing at the entrance, staring out at whatever lay beyond. Rose hurried to her side and looked out too. A large room, like a huge conference centre, with pockmarked grey walls decorated with an intricate symbol that still showed through despite the signs of age and neglect.

Rose reached down and took Romana's hand in her own. She squeezed the fingers, rubbing her thumb over the suddenly cool flesh. 'Come on,' she said, 'we don't have much time, do we?'

They walked out together still hand-in-hand. Rose looked around, eyes raising to the high vaulted ceiling before she turned on the spot and took in the cavernous room. It was dark with age, everything covered with a thick layer of dust and debris but it was still impressive. Romana looked too, eyes blinking furiously against the threat of tears. Rose squeezed her hand again before letting it go. She took a few steps and spun around again.

'Wow. What is this place?'

'Council Room. All of the great Time Lords have spoken here. Great oratory...terrible lies.'

'Like the Houses of Parliament then?'

Romana laughed, taking a few quick strides to catch up with Rose as she walked towards the grand entrance. Huge panelled doors opened in to a corridor with the same intricate symbols. Rose indicated the walls with a tilt of her head and a raised brow.

'The Seal Of Rassilon. The greatest of us. Come on, I've got an idea.'

With that Romana raced off, forcing Rose to jog to keep up with her. They followed the wide corridor until it became a not-so-wide corridor and kept going until they were definitely away from the official areas of the city. Everything was inches deep in dust, dirt swirling around their feet as they moved. Rose's head turned one way and the other, taking in the place that she had tried so hard to persuade the Doctor to describe to her. She wasn't sure he could have done it justice. Even the warren of offices and control rooms that Romana was leading her through were filled with amazing technology and remarkable artefacts. And the most profound sense of loss that Rose had ever known.

Romana lead her to what appeared to be a data center. There were banks of computers at one end and line upon line of storage filling the rest. Romana hurried down one narrow aisle and returned with a handful of crystals. She blew the filth from the crystals and slotted one of them in to the nearest computer terminal. Characters flashed up on the screen. Rose was pleased to discover that this new Tardis translated as well as the old one. She read the report and wished it didn't. Romana gave a long sigh and removed the crystal, replacing it with a second. The sigh was even longer. A third; Romana's face set in a hard expression. A fourth; her face falling.

Rose reached over and took her hand again. It was freezing. She rubbed the fingers vigorously, wishing she could make it better but knowing she could not. 'How much time do we have?' she said eventually.

Romana glanced at a reading on the display above their head, 'Not long.' She hesitated, her eyes taking in the room, playing over all the history stored there. She shook her head, tears splashing on to her shirt, 'What a waste. What a terrible, terrible waste.' She squeezed Rose's hand gratefully. 'Thank you,' Romana schooled her features and looked up in to Rose's eyes, 'Thank you for everything.'

'I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here with you,' Rose said before she could stop the words from escaping. She flushed, eyes darting down to their joined hands. In a falsely carefree tone, she added, 'Let's get back to the Tardis.' They left the room, the crystals still perched on the computer, all the history of Gallifrey abandoned. It seemed to be a much longer walk back. Rose glanced around, suddenly uneasy. There was something. 'Do you feel warm?' she said as they travelled yet another corridor.

Romana stopped, looking around them. They were looking in opposite directions when she said, 'I think we may have a problem.'

'You mean like the imminent end of life, the universe and everything?' Rose said, her eyes still staring down the corridor.

'No,' Romana grabbed for Rose's arm and tugged her around, 'much worse than that.'

Rose spun on her heels, ready to ask what could possibly be worse than the end of everything. And then she saw it. The corridor, warmer still now, was filling with a blue smoke. The smoke was gushing in from the corners, wisps beginning to swirl around their legs. Rose looked down and followed the tendrils back to find a half-formed creature. The smoke was coalescing in to a long, drawn out body. It was growing from the head down, forming a serpent shape that bobbed and shifted before them.

'What the hell's that?' Rose said.

Romana eased back, pulling Rose with her, 'I have no idea. Run,' she added with an urgent tug.

They turned and ran, the smoke following them. Rose followed Romana's lead, running down corridor after corridor until Romana skidded to a halt, her head turning one way and then the other, her eyes darting around in panic.

'Romana?' Rose said, her own panic rising.

'We need to double back.'

'Double back!'

'I think we've taken a wrong turn. It's been so long since I was here and this isn't even my Gallifrey. I need to find the main corridor again.'

Rose felt the presence of the creature without turning towards it. She looked down and saw the smoke dense around their legs. There was a voice now, barely audible above the wild beating of her heart but she thought it had said the word "Doctor". Could that be it? Did this thing want the Doctor? It didn't matter now; they needed to find somewhere safe. There was a heavy door a few yards further down the corridor. Rose reached for Romana, got a handful of her lapel and pulled them towards it. She hustled a protesting Romana inside and slammed the door shut behind them. There was a loud click as the lock told. Back pressed to the door, eyes darting around madly, Rose gasped for breath. It looked like some sort of safe, though there was nothing but empty shelves. A weapon's locker maybe? Rose didn't know and she didn't care. Right now all that mattered was that there was no blue smoke.

Rose turned her head to study Romana. The woman was propped up against the wall beside her, chest heaving as she too dragged air in to her protesting lungs. They could have had so much fun. It might even have worked out. Really worked out. Now they were minutes away from the end of everything. And there was blue smoke drifting in from the corners of the room.

'I'm sorry,' Rose said and it felt as if she'd said nothing else to Romana since they'd met. What she really wanted to say was, 'I love you.' It was out before Rose could get control of her thoughts. Her head snapped back from Romana's face, eyes staring forward as she tried to think of some way to take them back. But the smoke was forming in to the creature now. Two of them. Long snake-like bodies, darting heads, a hissing voice that was trying to get in to Rose's mind. She turned back to Romana and repeated the words, putting all of her feelings in to them this time, 'I love you.'

They turned at the same time, hands reaching for faces, pulling each other closer. Lips met in a tentative kiss that grew bolder, tongues mingling as it deepened further. If they were going to die, this was how it would be; together. And the kiss went on. Until they had to draw apart, lungs desperate for air, bodies shaking from the emotion.

Two sets of eyes swivelled around, heads not moving as they took in the room around them. No creature. No smoke. Just a nasty pile of steaming blue goo in the corner of the suddenly hot room. The blue ichor ran down the far walls and coated the floor up to a few feet from them. Splashes of it clung to Romana's coat and the legs of Rose's jeans. The eyes turned back and locked together. With an embarrassed cough, Rose dropped her hands from Romana's face. Romana did the same. They stayed in place, barely inches apart. Rose coughed again.

Romana said, 'Yes, well, that was interesting.'

'Interesting?'

'I meant the blue smoke...scary monsters...about to die part. Not the kiss. Not that the kiss wasn't interesting, obviously. It was just interesting in a -'

'You should stop now,' Rose interrupted her. She couldn't keep the sadness from her tone.

'Yes. Yes, I almost certainly should. Though I will just add one thing,' Romana paused for a moment before saying, 'I love you too.'

Rose's panic- and kiss-addled mind took a while to process the quietly spoken words. She turned her head, eyes returning to Romana's face. Finding a wide grin and those teasing eyes waiting for her. Her expression shifted from hurt to wonder to lust in record time and she grabbed for Romana's lapel again. Turning them around she yanked at the door, throwing it open and pulling them out in to the corridor.

'Come on,' Rose said, 'we have to get back to the Tardis.'

'Good grief yes; it's almost the end of the universe.'

'Yeah,' Rose said over her shoulder, 'and the Tardis is growing us a bedroom.'


End file.
